Car-coupling.



PATENTED FEB. 12, 1907.

W. N. HBNSLEY. GAR COUPLING.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 25, 1905.

UNFFED STATES Paranaoration TO CLINTON C. GRAY,

OF COLUMBUS, NEBRASKA.

CAR-COUPLING.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 12, 1907.

Application filed May 25,1905. Serial No. 262,166.

To all whom it may concern:

Be 1t known that I, NILLIAM N. HENsLnY, of the city of Columbus, in the county of Platte, and in the State of Nebraska, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Car-Coupling; and I do hereby de clare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a horizontal section of a carcoupler embodying my invention. .Fig. 2 is a front elevation thereof, and Fig. 3 is a vertical section of the same.

The object of my invention is to provide a knuckle-opener for car-couplers of the twinjaw tyae whose construction shall be exceeding ly simple, so that it can be at all times relied upon to operate satisfactorily and be unaffected in this respect by wear from long-continued use; and to this end my invention consists in the car-coupler having the construction substantially as hereinafter specified and claimed.

My invention relates to that class of knuckle-openers in which the locking device for securing the knuckle in its closed position is utilized to effect the opening of the knuckle by being lifted and made to cooperate with a cam in the draw-head. Devices of this description as heretofore made with which I am familiar have had such construction that they soon become unreliable in operation from wear, becoming clogged or otherwise prevented from operating. My knuckleopener will be found free from this serious objection, which, indeed, is so serious as to render the devices referred to of no practical value.

In the embodiment of my invention shown in the drawings a chambered draw-head A of ordinary construction is illustrated, having, as usual, a pivoted horizontally swinging knuckle B. Adapted to engage the rear end of the tailpiece l) of the knuckle when the latter is closed, and thus hold it in its closed position, is a pivoted arm C, mounted on a vertical stem or pin D, passing through alining openings in the top and bottom of the drawhead, and which arm when in knuckle-locking position lies transversely of the drawhead, its end 0 being the part of it that engages the tailpiece of the knuckle to lock it in its closed position. When in knuckle-locking position, a line drawn from the axis of the l arm C to the end thereof engaging the tailiece is parallel or ap iroximately parallel with the path traveled .y the portion of the knuckle-tailpiece that is engaged by the arm, 5 so that the arm thus rigidly opposes any 1 movement of the knuckle-tailpiece in the direction for opening knuckle. Besides having a rotary or swinging movement the arm I C has a vertical movement, for which purpose its carrying-pin is slidable vertically in 5 its bearings in the draw-head, which vertical movement is for the double purpose of locking or unlocking the knuckle and for swingl ing the knuckle to open it, which operation l will be presently described. 1 Situated in a position to engage the upper side of the arm C is an inclined or cam rib E, formed in the draw head, which as the arm rises acts to swing it forward, with the result that an extension 0 of the arm C above the 1 part thereof that engages the tailpiece of the l knuckle engages a surface on the tailpiece of the knuckle in advance of or nearer to the pivot of the knuckle than the part of the tailpiece which is engaged by the end of the arm C, the tailpiece of the knuckle being cut away, as shown, for this purpose, which engagement of the arm extension 0 and the knuckle-tailpiece swings such tailpiece outward, thus opening the knuckle. Of course, before the arm C can thus act upon the knuckle the tailpiece thereof must be freed from engagement by the end 0 of the arm C, and such freeing of the tailpiece is first effected by the lifting of the arm sufficiently high to clear that portion of the tailpiece with which it engages and before the arm C begins its forward movement under the action of the cam. The forward side of the arm C is cut away or provided with a cam-surface 0 which is engaged .by the end of the knuckle-tailpiece when the knuckle is moved to closed position, so that the arm C may thereby be automatically lifted to permit the knuckle-tailpiece to go beyond the end 0 of the arm C in readiness for the latter to drop, which it does by its grav- 1, ity, to place its end 0 in position to lock the knuckle in its closed position. If desired, the sidewise strain on the arm-carrying pin C may in part be sustained by having the hub of said arm C engage a rounded surface or l bearing on the inner wall of the draw-head. As is usual, means are provided for lifting the knuckle locking and opening arm from a point of safety, such as the side of the car, which means will be connected, preferably to the top of the pin or stem D.

The arm C and its stein D are integral, or made in one piece, and as a convenient way of placing the stem in position in the draw head the pivot-hole in the top of the drawhead is provided with inclined sides, so that the portion of the stem above the arm C may be passed upward and through the opening, and then the portion of the stem below the arm C having cleared the bottom of the drawhead the whole device may be rocked to place the stem in a vertical position and permit its lower end to pass into the opening in the bottom of the draw-head. This is done before the knuckle is put in position in the draw-head.

It will be seen that my construction is a most simple one, a very important consideration, both in respect to cost and freedom from liability to derangement in use.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is 1. In a car-coupler the combination of a draw-head, a knuckle pivoted thereto, a rotary and axially-movable knuckle-engaging arm, said arm having a knuckle-engaging surface to lock the knuckle in its closed position that is placed in and out of knucklelocking position by its axial movement simply, a line from the surface of the knuckle that is engaged by said arm. and passing through the arm-axis being parallel, or approximately parallel with the path of such. knuckle-surface in moving from its closed position, the said arm also having a knuckleengaging surface to swing the knuckle into open position, and means to automatically rock said arm to cause it to swing the knuckle into open position when the arm is moved axially to disengage it from the knuckle.

2. In a car-coupler the combination of a draw-head, a knuckle pivoted thereto, an arm carried by a vertically moving and turning pin, said pin being integral with the arm and journaled on opposite sides of the latter in the draw-head having an end portion to engage a surface on the knuckle-tailpiece to lock the knuckle in a closed position, and having an extension to engage a surface on the knuckle-tailpiece forward of the locking surface thereof and a cam-rib in the drawhead to engage said arm when it is lifted with its carrying-pin said cam-rib acting when the arm is lifted with its carrying-pinto swing the arm and thereby open the knuckle.

3. In a car-coupler, the combination of a draw-head, a knuckle pivoted thereto having a tailpiece extending rearwardly from the pivot into the draw-head when in a closed position, a rotary and axially-movable knuckleengaging arm extending transversely of the draw-head when in knuckle-engaging position and having a surface that engages the knuckle and is movable into and out of engagement with the knuckle by the simple axial movement of the arm, cooperating surfaces on the arm and knuckle, whereby the rotary movement of the arm imparts a swinging movement to the knuckle, and automatic means for rotating said arm to actuate the knuckle when the arm is moved axially.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing I have hereunto set my hand.

IVILLIAM N. HENSLEY. I/Vitnesses WM. OBRIEN, EDWARD ROssITER. 

